With more than 2.5 million page views and more than 4,700 items, this blog provides news and commentary on public policy, business and economic issues related to the $3 billion California stem cell agency, officially known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine(CIRM). David Jensen, a retired California newsman, has published this blog since January 2005. His email address is djensen@californiastemcellreport.com.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

The phrase “revolving door” is not
one that rolls off the tongues of most Americans. But it is shorthand for
an issue that concerns both Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX fame as
well as taxi drivers in New York City.

It is also a matter of importance to
the $3 billion California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)
and other state agencies.

Natalie DeWitt
CIRM photo

The issue surfaced this week with the
departure of a high level staffer at the San Francisco-based agency -- Natalie DeWitt, special projects officer for its former president, Alan Trounson. DeWitt's final day at the agency was last Friday. She
began her new job on Monday at Baxter Laboratory at Stanford University.

Garry Nolan, Helen Blau, Peter Jackson
Baxter Laboratory photo

Baxter is run by Stanford scientists
Helen Blau, Garry Nolan and Peter Jackson. Blau has received $2.8 million from the stem cell agency. Nolan has received $1.3 million. He is
also a leader (co-PI) on a $20 million award in the agency's
signature disease team effort.

No one is alleging that DeWitt or
others have done anything wrong. She has a fulsome resume and a
record of accomplishment.

Her departure from CIRM and employment
at Baxter, nonetheless, does bring to the fore revolving door
employment issues that now are a matter of greater concern for the agency than they were five years ago. The agency is scheduled to run out of
funds for new awards in less than three years. Some of its employees
are undoubtedly going to be looking for future employment in California's small, stem
cell research community. It would be natural for agency employees to want to
capitalize on their unique experience at CIRM. That is what gaining
professional experience is all about.

But there are legal and ethical constraints. To prevent improper influence on
governmental actions, the state of California has laws dealing with revolving door
employment. Briefly summarized, state law says that certain former state
employees and consultants can be banned from attempting to
influence their former agency, either for one year or permanently.
Current state officials also can be barred from taking part in
decisions that directly relate to a prospective employer.

“These are issues that we are
encouraged to be mindful of from the day we are hired to the day we
leave. Once we accept the job we are given an 'employee handbook'
(see below) which includes information about the state policy on what
is appropriate behavior. As state employees, we have to periodically
go through ethics training, and this covers what is and is not
acceptable behavior in these instances. We are
also encouraged to consult our in-house lawyers for
guidance or to get
advice from the state ethics agency on how the rules
might apply to a particular situation.”

Revolving door problems are not new to
either state or national government. They have long dogged such
agencies as the Department of Defense. That's what Musk complained
about via Twitter in a matter involving his space exploration firm,
SpaceX. According to Bloomberg News, Musk tweeted last month about
how competitors of his space company hired an Air Force official
allegedly as part of a move to secure a chunk of a $68 billion
Pentagon satellite project. And in New York City, questions also rose last month concerning the employment of a former top city taxi regulator
by the noted ride-sharing company Uber, a competitor in the city's
big taxi business.

DeWitt, who was paid $199,000 in 2013, worked for the stem
cell agency from September 2011 until this month. She played a
key role in the $70 million Alpha Clinic proposal championed by
Trounson. She was also deeply involved in the $40 million stem cell genomics
award that went to a Stanford consortium last January following a controversial review process. She and Trounson co-authored an article in Nature Biotechnology promoting the genomics plan.

DeWitt, who has a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin, was a senior editor at Nature
from 2001 to 2010. Seven months after joining CIRM, she co-founded a
firm called AccendoEditing. According to her Linked In
profile, the firm works with clients to “to present scientific
manuscripts and grants in a clear and engaging fashion.” It also
“provides insights into the review process.”

About Me

The California Stem Cell Report is the only nongovernmental website devoted solely to the $3 billion California stem cell agency. The report is published by David Jensen, who worked for 22 years for The Sacramento Bee in a variety of editing positions, including executive business editor and special projects editor. He was the primary editor on the 1992 Pulitzer Prize-winning series, "The Monkey Wars" by Deborah Blum, which dealt with opposition to research on primates. Jensen served as a press aide in the 1974 campaign and first administration of Gov. Jerry Brown. (Time served: two years and one week.) Jensen began writing about the stem cell agency in 2005, noting that it is an unprecedented effort that uniquely combines big science, big business, big academia, big politics, religion, ethics and morality as well as life and death. The California Stem Cell Report has been identified as one of the best stem cell sites on the Internet. Its readership includes the media (both mainstream and science), a wide range of academic/research institutions globally, the NIH and California policy makers.